There is a lot to shake your head about in the article from today's Washington Post. It's not so much that students aren't experts about holidays as such, but what that suggests about historical knowledge more generally which bothers me. (For instance, that a significant portion of college students seem to think that slavery was abolished in the 1960s...)In a recent survey of college students on U.S. civic literacy, more than 81 percent knew that the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was expressing hope for "racial justice and brotherhood" in his historic "I Have a Dream" speech.
That's the good news.
Most of the rest surveyed thought King was advocating the abolition of slavery.
But I think my favourite statement has to be this one, from a fourteen-year-old girl:
"Honestly, I never knew what Veterans Day was until last year"Yes, erm,...I suppose the name of the holiday isn't enough of a clue...
No comments:
Post a Comment